LAST EDITED: MAY 12 2022 | BY: KIMBERLY EVANS

If you know me well enough, you will know that I would rather do anything than sell my soul, posting about products that I don’t even like. This post contains affiliate links which I am so excited to recommend to you (and make just a little money from) and would hope that if you have the opportunity to recommend products you love, you would do the same.

How to recover when lightning strikes?! Life has an interesting way of teaching us lessons that we never knew we actually needed to figure out, often in the most unusual circumstances. May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month and I’ve been reflecting on my journey with Cassidy as it has evolved so much since we were first struck with all things new in 2012 and why philanthropy continues to be such an important part of my business.

FROM THE BEGINNING

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 is a day that would change our lives forever. After repeating the sweat test (which has the sole purpose of diagnosing Cystic Fibrosis (CF) on Cassidy, we sat in the sterile office, colorful butterflies painted on the walls, as one after the other, the Cystic Fibrosis specialists were sent in. Results had confirmed that this heart wrenching diagnosis was true. Amidst the streaming tears, while putting on a happy face for our four year old, Cassidy so that she knew everything was going to be okay.

In that moment, life had instantly changed as we knew it.

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects approximately 4500 Canadians. 1 in 25 people are a carrier of the defective gene and both parents need to be a carrier in order to have a 1 in 4 chance of the child being born with Cystic Fibrosis. This is Cassidy. She received a defective gene from me and her dad and was the 1 in 4 chance we didn’t know we had of having a child with CF. Cystic Fibrosis affects her respiratory and digestive systems by causing the mucus in her body to be very thick and sticky because of the cell confusion of salt and water in her body. She spends hours a day doing respiratory physiotherapy through inhaled medications through a nebulizer, physiotherapy and other vitamins and medications. In the digestive system, this thick sticky mucus prevents the pancreatic enzymes, that are needed to digest food, to exit the pancreas to get to the intestines. Cassidy takes 20-30 pills a day in order to digest food so that she can absorb nutrients and stay healthy. The days often feel long and this is a disease that we wouldn’t wish upon anyone. What keeps us strong is our HOPE in a miracle.

In 2013, a few months after her Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis, Cassidy asked me if she could have a Lemonade Stand to raise money for a cure. On a very cold day in May she set up her pop up lemonade stand that her grandpa built her in our driveway at our home in Saskatoon, SK and waited for customers. By the end of the day she had raised $100 and was delighted. Again in 2014, she held her annual lemonade stand, this time raising $300. She had so much fun visiting with friends and family who came by to support her cause. In 2015, we had moved to Moose Jaw, SK and she wanted to continue with her annual lemonade stand, even though we didn’t know many people in our new community. Cassidy handed out flyers to her Grade 1 class and to her younger sister, Lucia’s preschool class to invite them to attend. The day of the lemonade stand, Cassidy came home from school, excited to get started. As I started preparing lemonade, with my new and very special friend, Shavonne (you might know her as Once Upon A Bungalow) , we looked out the window to see 150 people standing on the driveway, waiting for her lemonade stand to open. We may have used some choice words….laughed our heads off and like a true friend, she immediately cancelled her plans and planned to stay for the evening to make this happen with us.

This was the start of something very special!

As I sat in my living room, rolling coins that added up to over $7,000, Cassidy’s Lemonade Stand was official and since then, along with selling lemonade, hosting incredible events, collaborating with so many fabulous businesses, and offering unique merchandise through our online boutique, has raised over $100,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Canada research and advocacy. In 2017, the lemonade stand expanded with a mobile lemonade truck that attends events and while it was an incredible journey, the pandemic provided a lot of challenges and we made the difficult decision to let the lemonade truck move on from us to a new family who could create new adventures with it.

As Cassidy grows up and continues to move forward with Cassidy’s Lemonade Stand in her own way, I have realized that Philanthropy in my business is such an integral part of my values and mission for my life. A portion of all sales in my business goes to support the incredible work of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the way they are striving to make life better for people bravely living with Cystic Fibrosis. My heart is forever changed, raising a child with a chronic illness and the support we’ve received from our people, our community and from perfect strangers who are listening to the tugs on their heart and making this world a better place will never ever go unnoticed.